Canada’s elite special forces soldiers risk being run ragged after spending three years deployed in Iraq, as well as in several other lesser-known places around the globe, their deputy commander warns.

That’s why Brig.-Gen. Peter Dawe says the federal government’s plan to add 600 more troops to the ranks of the special forces is not only welcome, it’s necessary, considering the threats Canada faces now — and can expect to face in the future,

“The reality is that we deliver the effects that the government deems appropriate, that they direct us to deliver,” Dawe said in an interview with The Canadian Press.